Iceland J24N · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
33 metres, to scale.
A slice through Múlagljúfur where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: a person · 1.8 m · a two-storey house · 9.0 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
33m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
14.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
5°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
10m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 11 °C. The wettest months are from December to February.
- 4°4°Jan
- 4°4°Feb
- 4°4°Mar
- 5°5°Apr
- 7°7°May
- 10°9°Jun
- 11°11°Jul
- 11°11°Aug
- 10°9°Sep
- 7°7°Oct
- 5°5°Nov
- 4°4°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Canyon in Iceland
Múlagljúfur is a gorge in Iceland, cut by the Hrútá river. The relief model measures 33 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 43 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Parking 2,210 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Hangandifossnearest viewpoint · 3.2 km from the floor
- Hornafjörður Airport (HFN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 69 km in a straight lineCar hire at HFN airport (Höfn)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 7viewpoints within 5 kmFjallsárlón, Hangandifoss and 5 more
- 2named waterfalls within 4 kmHangandifoss, Múlafoss
- 1car parks within 3 km
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmBreidá
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- caves within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites within 8 km
- restaurants and cafés within 4 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
In our other atlases
What else is around Múlagljúfur.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Cascadyas3 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas10 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas3 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| Afternoon · rim | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| Night · rim | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Rain (mm) | 284 | 262 | 222 | 175 | 108 | 92 | 115 | 146 | 220 | 251 | 230 | 271 |
| Rainy days | 24 | 21 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 23 |
| Sun hours/day | 1.1 | 3.6 | 7.8 | 12.0 | 14.4 | 13.8 | 11.1 | 9.3 | 6.2 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 0.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 83 | 101 | 112 | 116 | 107 | 84 | 52 | 22 | 12 | 21 | 45 | 64 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4 | 4 | 0 | 284 | 1.1 |
| Feb | 4 | 4 | 0 | 262 | 3.6 |
| Mar | 4 | 4 | 1 | 222 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 5 | 5 | 2 | 175 | 12.0 |
| May | 7 | 7 | 4 | 108 | 14.4 |
| Jun | 10 | 9 | 7 | 92 | 13.8 |
| Jul | 11 | 11 | 9 | 115 | 11.1 |
| Aug | 11 | 11 | 9 | 146 | 9.3 |
| Sep | 10 | 9 | 7 | 220 | 6.2 |
| Oct | 7 | 7 | 4 | 251 | 4.3 |
| Nov | 5 | 5 | 2 | 230 | 1.9 |
| Dec | 4 | 4 | 1 | 271 | 0.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (10 m) and the rim (53 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 101% | 110% | 94% | 94% | 83% | 131% | 76% | 127% | 103% | 73% | 88% | 81% |
| 2021 | 42% | 95% | 65% | 91% | 48% | 189% | 51% | 47% | 126% | 103% | 89% | 79% |
| 2022 | 102% | 101% | 216% | 72% | 172% | 101% | 103% | 119% | 68% | 52% | 149% | 27% |
| 2023 | 81% | 117% | 79% | 135% | 149% | 143% | 31% | 37% | 101% | 64% | 54% | 54% |
| 2024 | 79% | 54% | 105% | 68% | 94% | 81% | 108% | 152% | 67% | 77% | 110% | 78% |
| 2025 | 88% | 168% | 80% | 61% | 109% | 134% | 92% | 99% | 156% | 56% | 31% | 101% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Múlagljúfur
Iceland
- 33 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 5°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q131587778) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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